Interbike tech: 9:Zero:7 unveils Sliding Rear Dropout fat bike

By Emily Zinn

Published Sep. 21, 2012

Updated Oct. 30, 2014 at 10:16 AM EDT

The Alaskan fat bike company, named after the state's area code, debuted this Sliding Rear Dropout frame. The frame features a hydroformed top tube, a longer chainstay and two sets of dropouts that allow any mountain bike hub. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

As a company focussed on snow biking, 9:Zero:7 took pains to address the need for extra-low standover height for riders that are likely stepping into a deep snow bank when dismounting. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

This carbon belt driven Sliding Rear Dropout was set up with a Nu Vinvi CVP hub with unlimited gearing within its range and a completely sealed setup. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

Bill Fleming said that he took this bike out for a long day in the surf, and while everyone else's drive trains were being torn apart by the sand and salt water, his was clean, clear, and his shifting unimpeded. He gave it a moment's spray after the ride and she was ready to go again. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

The bike can be set up with a range of forks. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

9:Zero:7 Sliding Rear Dropout

9:Zero:7 Sliding Rear Dropout

As a company focussed on snow biking, 9:Zero:7 took pains to address the need for extra-low standover height for riders that are likely stepping into a deep snow bank when dismounting. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

9:Zero:7 Sliding Rear Dropout

Bill Fleming said that he took this bike out for a long day in the surf, and while everyone else's drive trains were being torn apart by the sand and salt water, his was clean, clear, and his shifting unimpeded. He gave it a moment's spray after the ride and she was ready to go again. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

9:Zero:7 Sliding Rear Dropout

The Alaskan fat bike company, named after the state's area code, debuted this Sliding Rear Dropout frame. The frame features a hydroformed top tube, a longer chainstay and two sets of dropouts that allow any mountain bike hub. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

9:Zero:7 Sliding Rear Dropout

The bike can be set up with a range of forks. Photo: Emily Zinn | Singletrack.com

The lowdown: This Alaskan fat bike can accommodate any mountain bike freehub, including an internally geared belt drive, single-speed or standard gearing

I took my first ride on a fat bike up the wash at the Interbike Outdoor Demo on Tuesday.

I was most intrigued by getting a feel for fatter tires, because they are blowing up the scene, and reaching far beyond snow and sand. Riding on snow and sand are both right up my alley, but more and more people are hyping going fatter for cross-country, with companies like Surly and Salsa pushing their fat bike lines and I wanted to try it for myself.

For a cross-country ride on a rigid frame, I was reasonably impressed with the 170mm Aluminum model I took out, but it certainly is not a bike that you can throw around with grace and ease, or one that gently rolls whatever you take it over.

Feeling fairly uninspired, I turned up the wash to try the ride out on really loose gravel and deep sand. (Yes, I was off-trail, but I wasn’t rolling over vegetation, so breathe.) Suddenly a whole new world of possibility opened before me. Deliberately pedaling erratically, slowing and jumping and swerving back and forth, the bike didn’t spin out a single time.

Once I rolled back to the trail, I found myself at the bottom of a very steep little ramp up loose desert dust. From nearly a dead stop, the bike rolled right up the loose terrain without even a threat of a skid.

When I returned the bike, the enthusiastic staff insisted that I come back the following day to check out the new Sliding Rear Dropout carbon belt drive-equipped bike. I spoke to co-owner Bill Fleming about its use as a cross-country bike.

“I am flattered that people want to ride our bikes on singletrack, and I certainly won’t tell them they shouldn’t, but I believe in a tool built for a purpose, and this bike was built to ride on snow,” he said.

Of that there is no doubt. The brand, named after the Alaska area code, is comprised of native Alaskan riders with a passion for riding pow’.

Emily Zinn

Emily Zinn spent her infancy in the back of a women's team van while the team built wheels around her. She spent part of her pre-teen years in Europe following the major European mountain, road and gravity races and touring cycling product factories. College was the first time she lived in a home without a frame building shop in her garage or basement. Her favorite style of riding is getting lost in singletrack trail networks and taking her time finding her way back.